Turret winders wind webs of paper, paperboard and non-paper products, such as film and polyethylene, onto cores and into rolls. Products, properties, speeds and widths vary from winder to winder and from plant to plant. The proper procedure of threading and attaching each particular product to the winder, therefore, varies as well from winder to winder.
In addition, many turret winders wind rolls of paper or film using a pressure roll, sometimes called a rider roll, pack roll, lay-on roll, or bump roll. Typically, the lay-on roll is a straight beam (e.g., cylindrical shaft, spindle or tube) which applies pressure to the film as it is being wound onto one or more cores into one or more winding rolls positioned on a core shaft of the turret winder. When one of the cores has a full capacity of the web wound thereon (i.e., full core), the web is typically cut thereby creating a trailing edge and a new leading edge of the web. The trailing edge is wound around the full core and the full core is move to an outboard position on the turret. The turret positions a new core into position for receiving the new leading edge. The transfer of the web from the full core to the new core occurs during production in a continuous mode. Prior art cutting devices are known to leave non-uniform leading edges and trailing edges. This can create non-uniform web build up on the new core and can lead to waste associated with removing a portion of the web proximate the tail on the full core. Such waste is of particular concern for self-wound-adhesive webs, expensive web materials and automated packaging applications.
There is a need to improve the process for cutting and transferring the web from a full core to a new core.